Oniku to Yasai Hachibei

Enjoy beef offal that is going to change your image of beef at the kappo style restaurant Hachibei

Behind the department store Kawaramachi OPA, on the small alley of Yanagikoji, there in the middle of trendy restaurants, is the beef offal restaurant of Hachibei.
Hachibei is a kappo style restaurant, which there are not many in Kyoto. Kappo restaurants offer meat dishes that are cooked in various ways, and the style is somewhere between kaiseki and casual dining. All the tastes and textures of the dishes at Hachibei are carefully thought out so that not two are the same, and this is also why the restaurant has in the past got a Michelin star. All the dishes at Hachibei make the beef offal taste great. The chef told me the following: “I would like to get more people to taste beef offal, and to realize the potential in it.” You can taste the chef’s passion in the dishes, and this is why they are so delicious.
I’m certain your opinion about beef offal will change after eating at Hachibei. Kaiseki and tofu are also good options in Kyoto, but I would like to recommend you taste kappo style cooking at Hachibei. I’m sure you will rediscover your love of Kyoto.

Their dinner menu consists only of this one course. The thoughts behind Hachibei are condensed into this course, and through these dishes you can see the essence of Hachibei. The course consists of 12 to 13 dishes that change depending on the season and availability. In the middle part of the course, you will be served choice parts of cow, grilled in front of your eyes. In the last part of the course you get also a hari-hari nabe, a type of hot pot that used to be made with whale meat and mizuna, but at Hachibei is made with cow tongue, so the course is packed with excitement until the end.

2Recommended

Drinks that go well with beef/ From 500 yen and up

At Hachibei they have many drinks that all go well with beef. This time I had sake. Normally they have a changing lineup of two types of sake. The sake helps bring out the tastes in the beef, but it still has its own distinct taste too. Choose the one you like, and then let’s say cheers!

3Let's Try!

End your course with a cup of noodles with the soup from the hari-hari nabe

Lastly, but definitely not least, you get a cup of ramen noodles that are so good that you have to finish them even if you were already full.
The soup is from the hari-hari nabe you get to eat just before this cup of ramen, but the soup is so good you have to drink it all. The chef said that after trying many different types of noodles, he found out that ramen noodles went best with the soup. I hope you will finish this cup of noodles too, to the last drop.

How to Order

They have explanations of the dishes in English and Chinese.

On the counter seats on the first floor, you can watch the chef make the dishes in front of your eyes. Even before you get to eat the dishes you can enjoy the smell of barbecue and the gentle fragrance of the dashi soup, which will make your expectations for the dishes grow even bigger. Enjoy Hachibei with all your senses.

- Order Tips -

If you have allergies or things you don’t want to eat, tell about them when making a reservation.

3.3food3.8service3.0atmosphere3.0

Price

Overseas Tourist-Friendly

Shiho

3.2food3.5service3.0atmosphere3.0

Beef offal, or horumon, are usually fatty, and usually eaten grilled. But all of the dishes offered at Hachibei are surprising in a way that is sure to change your idea of beef offal. The taste of the beef offal is almost elegant, and the dishes in the course will keep surprising you until the end; in the end the experience is even moving! This was the best beef offal I have ever had.

This restaurant is in an interesting place, on the Yanagi-koji alley that is really Japanese while at the same time having something modern about it.
I had the dinner course at Hachibei and the two-hour course offered me a look into the world of beef innards I would have never thought possible. The taste of most of the innards was something akin to fine beef, but the texture was something quite different. All in all the two hours I spent at Hachibei were really interesting, and I got to try many parts of cow I had never had before.